County RoundUp: Thursday, January 6, 2010

A dead woman found in the Kingman Wash about a mile from the new Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge bypass has been identified. Authorities say she is Yung Park, 39, an escort service owner from Las Vegas. Two of Park's employees, Min Soon Chang, 30, and Keon Kyun Park, 19, have been arrested on murder and kidnapping charges. They are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. Keon Park is not related to Yung. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Mohave County Sheriff's Office and the National Park Service are working on the case. Hikers found the woman's burned body Dec. 23 on the Arizona side of the bypass.

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in a murder case against a Bullhead City man. Arthur Andrew Leyba, 33, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Ronnie Wayne Trainer, 32. Trainer was shot in his home on Santa Maria Road on Oct. 7. Leyba now faces life in prison or life with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

A Bullhead City man pleaded not guilty Monday to three charges in connection to the 2009 death of this roommate. Charles William Dutter Jr., 53, was indicted Dec. 23 by a grand jury on one count of felony manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault. Dutter and his roommate Dennis Paul Talan, 51, allegedly got into a fight on Aug. 4, 2009, in the 1400 block of Marina Parkway. Talan was transported to the hospital the next day for injuries sustained in the fight. He died from blunt force trauma to the torso on Sept. 24, 2009. If convicted, Dutter could face between 12 and 21 years in prison.

The Arizona Supreme Court has postponed its decision on whether to execute a Lake Havasu City man for 30 days. Daniel Wayne Cook, 49, of Lake Havasu City was convicted in August 1988 of the beating, torture and death of two Lake Havasu City men in July 1987. The Arizona Supreme Court also ordered that the Mohave County Superior Court rule on Cook's request for post-conviction relief due to mental and other health conditions. There is a pending petition on Cook's behalf before the U.S. Supreme Court to declare the state's use of sodium thiopental as unconstitutional and order a hearing to be held to discuss mitigating circumstances that might have reduced his sentence.

A trial date has been set for one Bullhead City man accused of the death of a man outside a Bullhead City restaurant in October. A judge set April 5 as the day that Steven Blake Prindle, 27, will appear before a jury of his peers. Prindle is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated robbery. He and his co-defendant, John Floyd Castillo, 29, allegedly attacked Richard Lee Huffins, 24, and another man outside of Buffalo Wild Wings in the early morning hours of Oct. 16. Huffins later died of severe head injuries at a Las Vegas hospital. The other victim received minor injuries and had his wallet stolen. Prindle's attorney, Billy Sipe, has filed a motions to remand the case back to the grand jury and suppress evidence.

A former county employee will once again go before a judge. A judge set a jury trial for Donald Lee Condra, 47, for Feb. 23. Condra is accused of making false statements regarding his background and education on an application for an Arizona mortgage broker's license in December 2006. He is currently serving eight years in prison after being convicted in July 2008 of four counts of forgery, two counts of theft, one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices and one count of tampering with a computer. The state supreme court affirmed his conviction in April after he appealed. The county hired Condra in 2004 as a technician for the Flood Control Division. He resigned from the department in March 2006 and was arrested one month later. He was convicted of depositing $4,500, $500 and $800 checks from contractors that were supposed to go to the county Flood Control Division into his wife's mortgage company's bank account. He was also convicted of the theft of four county computers including one that detailed an emergency management plan for a terrorist attack on Davis Dam. Contra also forged a Federal Emergency Management Agency Letter of Map Revision.

From the Bullhead City Fire Department

The Bullhead City Fire Department is recommending that families change their smoke detector batteries. A family that changes the batteries in all their smoke detectors at the beginning of each year should be safe throughout 2011. Every year, more than 2,500 people die in residential fires in the United States. The numbers for 2009 were recently reported by the National Fire Protection Association. The report stated that 2,695 people died from fire in the United States; of that number, 2,565 died in home fires. For adults and children who may not hear or wake to the smoke detector, there are smoke detectors with strobe lights. For the deaf population, the strobe light works well or a remote vibration unit is also suggested. Another important safety fact is the need for a home exit plan. Parents should draw out a plan with two exits from each room. Then practice that plan, again like a monthly school fire drill. If you cannot afford batteries or smoke detectors, you can contact your local fire department for assistance.